Myth AU
by curiousscientistkae
Summary: Once Myths and Humans lived together side by side. But soon, the two started to fight with each other and they grew apart. Years later, after some peace, fighting among the groups are on the rise again. Even with attacks on the rise, that doesn't stop two sisters from trying to make peace and help myths anyway they can.
1. The adventure beings

**_A/N: I just want to say this quickly, just so no one asks me it. This is not a shippy au. It once was, but I changed it to just be on Ruby and Yang. While there will be no 'canon' ships, there will be 'moments' of ships that can't be helped. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy this Au~_**

* * *

_Myths. Creatures you hear about in fairy tales and legends. Dragons, faeries, giants, and anything you can think of, use to live alongside humans. For the most part the two groups lived in relative peace with each other. Those myths that can turn and look like a human would sometimes be with humans, even having families with them. And for a long time the two groups lived like this. There were a few minor skirmishes here and there, mostly over little things, but nothing major. Eventually, though, their minor skirmishes grew bigger and more severe. Humans started to kill myths, and myths started to kill humans in retaliation. After a war that cost many lives on both sides the fighting stop. The two groups moved away from each other, never to talk or interact again. Some myths who became too attached to the humans world, wore the skin of their enemy to hide among them and live out their lives like that. As for the children that are part myth, part humans, cryptids as they are called, many of their families deiced to keep their mythical side hidden, hoping that they will never find out. Sometimes that did not work out in their favor._

_Even though apart from each other now, myths and humans still fight. Most in part due to humans who like to hunt myths for sport or even for a long seeded revenge. Most myths will not attack a human unprovoked. Most myths want nothing to do with humans. Though there are some that will go rouge and attack and kill humans for no reason. Many think that myths and humans cannot live side-by side again. But there are some who believe otherwise._

* * *

**Yang**

_Thump, thump, thump, thump._ Yang's foot hits the ground over and over again as the blonde tries to think. She is standing over the side of a bed, whose occupant refuses to wake. That occupant happens to be Yang's younger sister Ruby, who is half out of bed and half in it. The darker haired girl snores away as she sleeps. No matter what Yang seems to do, Ruby will not wake. Yang has tried just saying her sister's name, shaking the younger girl and even _pulling_ Ruby out of bed. Still Ruby is dreaming away.

"What to do, what to do." Yang mumbles to herself. The two have plans to hang out with two of their friends, Weiss and Pyrrha, today and they are supposed to meet up with the two in the center of town—very soon.

"I got it!" Yang says to herself. She leaves the room that she shares with Ruby, who still is half off of her bed, and heads down stairs into the kitchen. The blonde digs around the cabinets until she pulls out a bucket. She fill the bucket up with cold water as well as putting some ice in it. Once filled to the brim with cold water and ice, Yang slowly walks back up the stairs and into the bedroom. In the short time Yang was gone, the rest of Ruby's body has fallen off of her bed. She now fully lies down on the ground, her red blanket lying haphazardly on top of her.

Yang slowly walks over to Ruby, making sure that none of the boards under her feet creak. Who knows, maybe _that _will wake Ruby. But she wants to have a little fun right now with getting her sister to wake up. When Yang does get close enough to Ruby, she tilts the bucket over, letting the contents spill out of it and fall onto the sleeping girl. Yang takes a quick step back as Ruby flings upward from her position on the ground. Ruby looks around with her silver eyes to see where she is and what is going on, still being partly stuck in her dream state. She quickly finds her older sister chuckling in front of her, the bucket in her hand.

"Y-Yang? What the heck was that for?" Ruby asks Yang. Ruby starts to get to her feet, but with her blanket tangled all around her as well as water and ice everywhere on the floor, getting up is hard. She has to grab the edge of her bed to get up.

"You were taking too long to get up." Yang replies. She starts to help her sister rid herself of the red fabric.

"So dousing me in water was your best plan?"

"Well I did try to shake you and I even pulled you out of your bed. How do you think you ended up on the floor?"

"Why did you wake me anyway? You usually let me sleep in on the weekends." Ruby finally is able to slip out of her blanket. She places it back on her bed.

"Did you forget dummy or are you still half asleep." Yang gives smalls taps of her fist on Ruby's forehead, trying to knock some sense into the younger girl. "We are supposed to meet up with Weiss and Pyrrha today in the middle of town. In oh say…twenty…thirty minutes? You might want to get dressed."

"WHAT?!" Any sleep that still had a hold on Ruby vanish as she realizes that if she doesn't move soon, she and Yang will be late. Ruby dashes out of the room and into the nearby bathroom to dry off and to get ready for the day. Yang rolls her eyes at the sight of her sister rushing around. Her younger sister is quite fast on her feet so she should be ready in no time. Yang herself also has to finish getting ready, mostly just small things like brushing out her hair and putting her jacket on. Hopefully by the time she is done, Ruby will be done as well.

* * *

**Ruby**

Ruby mumbles to herself as she puts on her clothes for the day. She kicks herself a bit for not waking up earlier and having to rush to get ready. She also plans on kicking Yang for waking her up with a bucket of cold water. Maybe next time her older sister won't wake, she'll dump cold water on her. Yang never has been a true fan of the cold so that's one way to get back at her.

Once she gets on her clothes, Ruby walks over to the closest to grab one last article of clothing. A red cloak. A gift given to her by her late mother, Summer Rose, when she was very young. She wears it everywhere, only taking it off when she sleeps or when she goes somewhere that doesn't allow the wearing of cloaks. Wearing it makes her feel safe and close to Summer.

Once finally dressed, Ruby heads downstairs to join her older sister. The blonde haired sister is all dressed and ready to go. She is sitting on a chair in the middle of the living room, spinning a purple crystal that hang around her neck in her fingers. Like Ruby's cloak, the necklace is a last piece given to her by her mother. Unlike Ruby, who has some memoires of her mother and who knows she is long since passed, Yang has no memories of her mother and doesn't know if she is alive or not. For whatever reason their father Taiyang and their Uncle Qrow will tell Yang little to nothing about her missing mother. Neither of the sisters know why they won't tell, but that hasn't made Yang give up any less to find her mother and to get answers.

"You okay Ruby?" Yang says.

Ruby blinks and looks at her sister, who is standing in front of her now, waving a gloved hand in her face. "Huh?"

"I said 'you okay Ruby?'. You seemed to have zoned out."

"Ah! Sorry about that. Guess I am still half asleep. Are you all ready to go?"

"I've been ready to go. Come on. Let's go before we are late. We don't want Weiss chewing us out again."

"Right." As Ruby walks out of the house with her sister, she remembers how one time she and Yang were late to meeting their friends. Like with Ruby today, the two had slept in by mistake. By the time the two were able to meet up with their friends, they were a half an hour late and they almost missed the show that everyone had planned to see. Ruby couldn't really blame Weiss for yelling at her and Yang.

The two sisters walk down the crowded streets of their village. Being almost noon, the streets of their home town are alive and bustling. People are out and about either working in one of their little shops that run along the road or shopping in them. Some people are out to be out or are like the two sisters, out to be with friends. It's a nice day out. A bit cloudy, but still nice and cool out.

As the two continue to walk Ruby starts to think about what the four of them have plan for today. She remembers something going to see another show or play or something, but nothing else. Hopefully something fun is planned for today. As she thinks, she starts to fall behind.

Ruby is so lost in her thoughts that she is does not pay attention to where she is going. All of a sudden, something hits her, hard, in the side and she falls to the ground with whatever hit her on top of her. Ruby groans as the weight is lifted off of her body. She sits up and shakes her head to clear it. Sitting in front of her, and rubbing his head, is a boy not all too much older than her. Probably about Yang's age. The blond haired boy blinks and looks at Ruby. His blue eyes widen when he realizes what he had run into.

"I'm so sorry!" The boy says. He scrambles to his feet and sticks out his hand. Ruby takes it and is helped by the boy back to her own feet. She brushes off some dirt that is on her clothes. "Are you okay? I should have paid attention to where I was going." The boy asks.

"I'm good. And I'm to blame as well. I wasn't paying much attention to what was going around also. What about you?"

"I'm good. What's your name? I'm Jaune. Jaune Arc."

"Nice to meet you Jaune. My name is Ruby Rose. I've never seen you around here before."

"Yeah I am just visiting with a friend. Which is why I ran into you. I lost him and thought I found him and then _bam_, I crash into you."

"Oh! I'm supposed to meet up with some friends in the center of town." Ruby starts to look around, trying to find her sister in the sea of people. It's hard to do so when you are just over five feet tall. "I'm sorry Jaune. I have to go. Maybe we can meet up another time?"

"Well I am leaving the village tomorrow, but I actually come here every so often. So maybe next time you can show me around this town so my friend and I don't get lost…Speaking of which I think I see him again. See ya around Ruby." Jaune waves at Ruby as he starts to disappear into the crowd. Ruby starts to wave back at him but stops. Before he disappears, it seems to the young girl that Jaune was glowing or—_shimmering_—for a moment. Ruby rubs her eyes, thinking she got something in them. When she looks back up, Jaune is gone. Could she still just be dazed from being crashed into?

"There you are!" A voice says. It is quickly followed by two hands slapping down on Ruby's shoulders. Ruby yelps and jumps. She is about to try to flip whoever's hands are on her but Yang's face appears at her side, glaring at her. "Where the hell did you go? You nearly gave me a heart attack."

"I'm not five any more Yang." Ruby gently removes her sister's hands from her shoulders. Ruby sometimes wishes Yang wasn't so overprotective of her. It can be overbearing sometimes. "I was lost in thought and someone who also was pretty much lost in thought ran into me. Before you ask, I am fine. Just a little bit dazed, that's all."

"Good. Come on. We are almost to the center of town."

Ruby follows her sister once again through the crowds of people, trying her best not to bump into too many people on her way to meet up with her friends. Ruby finds them near a fountain. Pyrrha is sitting on the edge of the fountain, watching people pass by. Weiss stands on the stone part of the fountain. While Pyrrha is just looking around, not really focusing on anyone or anything, Weiss looks like she is trying to find someone. That someone is most likely Ruby and Yang.

As the sisters draw closer to where their friends sit, Weiss spots them. She jumps down from her spot on the stone, making Pyrrha snap out of her haze of watching people, and starts to walk over to her two friends. "What was talking you guys so long?" Weiss asks.

"I was having trouble getting Ruby out of bed. And then apparently someone ran into her so she was lagging behind for a bit. Are we really that late?" Yang inquires.

"No. But you guys were talking a bit to get here." Pyrrha tells Yang. "Anyway we should get going. We don't want to miss the play this time."

All together finally the four friends walk towards the theater for the first part of their day. As they walk, Ruby's mind wanders around. Even as she and the others take their seats in the theater, and as the play starts, she can't get over the boy that crashed into her. Jaune. He seems nice and all, but that is not what has her mind on him. The fact that he seemed to have glowed for a split second. Ruby runs a list through her head of what could have caused it. Could it have been the light from the sun? No…it is not that sunny out. There are a clouds in the sky covering the sun. The light from it couldn't have made Jaune glow. Could it be that she may have just hit her head to hard? Ruby dismisses that also. Her head didn't hurt all too after she fell. It couldn't be that either, right?

Many ideas come and go through the fifteen year old's head. None of them seem to give her any answers, only more questions as to _why_ that could have caused the glowing. Ruby sighs. Her head is starting to hurt from trying to figure this all out.

Ruby turns her attention to the actors and actress on the stage, rows in front of her. She is not sure what is going on in the play. Something about heroes, knights, myths…something like that. It is something that she should enjoy, if she can just clear her mind. She is only able to get her mind off of things for a little while, though. As she watches the play go on, just like with Jaune, one of the actors on the stage glows for a brief moment. When Ruby sees this she blinks and rubs her silver eyes before looking back at the actor. They have stop glowing. _Maybe I really did just hit my head too hard._ Ruby thinks to herself.

* * *

**Yang**

"You okay little sis?" Yang asks as she flops down on her bed. Ever since she and the others got out of the play, which Yang didn't pay much attention too—she actually fell asleep during it and only woke up when there was the loud bang of the 'dragon' falling down after being slain by a hero—she has noticed that Ruby seems to be in a different world. She didn't bother to ask beforehand since she thought either the younger girl was still tired from being woken up or was just not all too interested in what was going on. Now that they are home and back in their room, Ruby is still in her own world.

Ruby does not answer. She is staring off into space. Too comfortable to get up, Yang grabs one of the pillows that rest at the top of her bed and throws it at her sister. It hits the darker haired girl in the head, knocking her over onto the rest of her bed. This gets Ruby's attention. She makes a noise that starts off as a groan but ends as a growl as she sits up. She throws Yang's pillow back at her sister—who catches it.

"Why did you chuck a pillow at my head?" Ruby asks her sister.

"Cause you were not listing to me. You've been off in your own little world for a long time now. What's up?"

"Nothing."

"Come on Rubes. I know it is not nothing. You don't normally space out for this long. What is bugging you?" Yang pauses. "Is it something about Mom?"

"No…it's not." Ruby sighs. "I don't know. When Jaune ran into me, right before he left to go find his friend, I could have sworn I saw something. And even when I was watching the play I saw the same thing with one of the actors. I really don't know how to explain it, but it was as if they were….glowing? Shimmering? I don't know the right word to describe it. But it was only for a moment and it was just really weird."

"Hm…" Yang pulls herself to the side of her bed. She lifts up the yellow skirt and bends over to look under her bed. Books are everywhere. Some are neatly stacked in rows, while some are laying scattered about in messy piles. The blonde moves some books around and grabs a few, reading the titles on the face of each book.

"What are you doing Yang?" Ruby asks.

"I'm not sure, but what you said sounds a bit familiar. Maybe I read it to you when you were little, maybe I just heard it around town. But it is ringing a bell." Yang continues to dig around through her books. It is the one thing that her father and Uncle would let her stock up on as a child. Anything else she tried to hoard stopped once one of them found out what Yang was doing. She is happy at least there was one thing she was allowed to do these things with. While she herself is not all into books Ruby loves them. Ever since Summer died, Yang took over reading her younger sister to sleep. Maybe that's why it is why her father and Uncle allowed for Yang to stock up on them.

Finally Yang's lilac eyes land on a book. A dusty old thing that sits alone by the wall. Yang grabs the books and slowly sits up. She blows away the dust that has piled up on the book over the years, and waves her hand in front of her face as the brown cloud slowly rises up. Once the cloud is gone Yang starts to flip through the book as she scans the black letters, looking for answers.

There is a knock on the door. Both sister's look up to see their father, Taiyang, standing in the frame of the door. His blonde hair is all messed up and there is some sleep in his dark purple eyes. He probably just woke up from a nap. It's no wonder where Ruby gets her sleepyheadness from.

"What are you reading Yang?" The older blonde man asks with a yawn as he walks over to his two daughters' bed. He looks at the binding of the worn out red book that Yang holds. The word that pops out most at him is the word 'myth'. "Something about myths?"

"Well, not exactly. Ruby?"

"I was telling Yang about how when I bumped into a kid and later on when I was watching an actor at the play, it looked to me that they were shimmering for a moment. It was only for about a second, but I really don't think I am going crazy."

Taiyang scratches his chin in thought. He then sticks out his hand to Yang, gesturing for his eldest child to hand him the book. Yang listens. Her father starts to do what she had been doing, looking through the book. He is faster than Yang though and quickly finds a page. He hands it back to Yang who starts to read it. Ruby walks over to her sister's bed and sits down next to her so she too can read what is on the page.

_For the most part, myths can easily hid among humans if they want to. Whether it is to escape someone or they want to get closer to humans—for better or for worse—it can be hard to tell a myth from a human when in disguise. Some will show traits of their myth side, like having ears of a cat or a tail of a monkey. Some will not have anything to tell they are a myth. But for some, even if a myth in human form does not show that they are in disguise, can tell that the human they are looking at is a myth._

_It is a rare trait among humans, only a few have said they can do this. When a myth or even half-myth, a cryptid as they are called, passes by them, for what could be a brief moment they shine, glow, __**shimmer **__to this person. For the most part this gift is involuntary, happing at random. Some have learned how to do it on command, however, but it still only last for a few seconds. But like with anything it has its downsides. If the myth or cryptid happens to be wearing something that completely suppress their abilities, like the usage of dust in clothing or accessories, it will inhibit the user from seeing this glow. To them now, they look like a normal human being._

"So wait…Are you saying that that kid I saw and the actor are myths?" Ruby asks her father as Yang places the book to the side. "How come this is the first time this has happened? Why not before?"

Ruby's father shrugs. "I can't answer that last part. Late bloomer maybe? Or maybe that ability doesn't occur until you are older. As for the kid and the actor, my guess is yes. I'm sure there are a few myths that live within the village and stay hidden. You're mother use to say how she would see random glimmers when we were walking through the town."

"Mom was able to see myths?" Ruby says. She quickly moves closer to her father, practically knocking Yang over as she now hovers over her. The blonde haired girl squirms out from under her sister as their father chuckles at his youngest child.

"Yes she was. You get it from her."

"I need to find Jaune again, the person who ran into me. If he really is a myth, there are so many things I want to ask him."

Both sisters, a bit more so Ruby than Yang, have always had a fascination for myths. Unlike many of their friends who either are neutral on the subject, like Pyrrha, or have a strong dislike towards myths, like Weiss, Ruby and Yang have always wanted to learn more about them. Many of the books under Yang's bed are fairy tales based on some of the mythical creatures that roam the earth. The two girls grew up on stories that their parents or Uncle would tell about myths that they had seen and some that they actually became friends with.

"Easy there now Ruby. You can't just go out and about looking for myths without a plan. You know that there has been an increase number of attacks among humans and myths. It can be really dangerous."

"Come on Dad! There are plenty of kids our age going out looking for myths or just going out for the heck of it. And you even said that you, Mom, and Uncle Qrow use to go out and help myths when you were not all too much older than us! And I just want to find this one kid. That's all. _Please?_"

"She has a point. You and Uncle Qrow have taught us how to defend ourselves as well as use our own weapons if needed be. I'm sure that finding one kid won't be that hard." Yang pipes up.

"Hm…I'm still not sure. You guys have no idea what he is, if he is a myth. I know you two have always wanted to help people out, human or myth. I'm just not sure if I really want you two to go out and about looking around for myths."

"Well you also did say my mother went out looking for myths." Yang mumbles to herself. It is the only thing she truly knows about her missing mother. That for whatever reason, right after the blonde was born, she left. Her father and Uncle told her it had something to do with myths and that is all they would ever say to her.

Taiyang sighs. He barely heard what his daughter had said, but by the tone of the voice he thinks he knows exactly what Yang mumbled. "Can I sleep on it? It's late and even though I took a nap on the couch, I am still really tired. Is that okay?"

"I guess so." Ruby pouts. Her father softly smiles and ruffles up Ruby's dark hair.

"Go to bed now, the both of you. I'll see you two in the morning." Before leaving, Taiyang tells his daughters goodnight and gives them each a kiss on the forehead. Once their father is gone Ruby crawls back into her own bed. Yang puts her book back under her bed and then turns the lamp light off.

Ruby is quick to fall asleep. She is probably all tuckered out from her long day out with friends, meeting Jaune, and finding out about being able to see myths. But Yang stays wide awake, playing with her purple necklace. She has always wanted to find out about where her mother went, and why she left. Only once had she tried to look for her mother without thinking. It nearly ended with her and Ruby being killed by a rouge myth. Thankfully their Uncle came in time to save them. That still hasn't made her give up any less on finding her mother. Now with knowing Ruby can 'see' myths, and her wanting to go out looking for them, or at least one of them, maybe that can give her some long awaited answers.

Yang yawns. Her father is right. It is late. She needs to sleep. Yang hopes that her father lets Ruby and even herself go out looking for myths. Even if she cannot find any answers to where her mother is, it would make a great adventure wouldn't it? Yang stops playing with her necklace and pulls the covers up to her neck, letting herself fall into sleep.

* * *

The next day Yang opens her eyes to see Ruby standing over her, a smile from ear to ear in on her face. Yang gives her sister a look.

"Moring Sleepyhead. Guess what Dad said?" Ruby cheerfully says to her sister.

Yang props herself up on her elbows. It takes her a moment to figure out what Ruby means. Her lilac eyes widen when she figures out what her sister question is about. "He said we could go looking for at least Jaune?"

Ruby shakes her head 'yes'. "I woke up kind of early and saw he was downstairs with Uncle Qrow. The two had talked it over and they said that so long as we are careful and came back home often enough, we could go looking around. They even said we go out looking today. Get ready!" Ruby speeds off as her sister gets out of bed.

Yang is quick to get dressed. She stumbles out of her room, nearly falling flat on her face, as she tries to tie one of her boots onto her foot. She hops down the hallway as she starts to put another boot on her other foot. Once she has both boots on her feet, the blonde walks down the stairs to find her father and uncle sitting in the living room, waiting for her. Ruby is nearby, pacing round as she too waits for her older sister. She is the first to notice Yang coming down the stairs.

"Yea! You are finally up!" Ruby practically bounces up and down when Yang finally comes into the living room.

Yang looks around the room to see two bags lying by the door. One for her and one for Ruby. She looks back at her father, who is now standing, and her Uncle, who is still sitting on the couch. Yang looks up at her father, who is a tall and burly man. He gently places one of his hands on Yang's head. Yang holds back a small growl. She hates when people touch her hair, but it is her father after all.

"I am proud of you both. Be safe now, okay? I know both of you are looking for answers that me and your Uncle cannot give, but please don't do anything rash." Yang knows her father is talking right to her with those last few words. He still hasn't let go of that day when we left the house when he was gone in search of her mother. "You promise me that?"

"I do Dad. Don't worry. I'll keep Ruby safe, okay?"

"Good girl." Taiyang gives Yang a tight hug. After she is let go from her father's grasp, Yang's Uncle also give the blonde and her sister a hug and his own farewells. After their father and uncle are all done giving the sisters a speech and saying good-bye, both Ruby and Yang grab their bags and head out the door, onto their new adventure.

* * *

**I just want to say thank you to kc5rings on tumblr for the name 'crypitd'. If anyone wants to help me out with this au, and would not like to get tagged or mention, just tell me and I will not do so (though I'll say something like 'thank you to friend for idea')**


	2. The Village

**Yang**

It is always unnerving to walk into the thick and dark forest that spreads across who knows how far? Sure many people have enter these parts of Vale before. But since so many people will not go in the woods alone or with someone, due to the fear of being attacked or killed by the myths that lurk in the shadows, no one has mapped out the entirety of forest. Going in blind is probably not the best idea. Thankfully though both Yang and Ruby are armed. Ruby has brought her bow and a number of arrows with her since she is a good shot with them. Yang meanwhile has her own set of brass knuckles filled with lighting dust to stun and electrify her enemies.

Even armed in case anything were to happen shivers run down Yang's spine as she walks. Ever since the time Yang nearly got both herself and Ruby killed when she went into the forest as a young child, she has hated even going near it. But Ruby really want to explore it—so someone has to keep her safe—and the thought of answers to her own mother also drives her to go back to the place she least wishes to go to the most.

"You want to take a break? My feet are starting to get tired." Ruby says, turning to face her sister. The two have been walking around the forest for maybe a couple of hours now. A break is very much needed. Ruby finds a tree that has fallen to the ground to sit on. Both take a seat down on the fallen plant and set their backpacks down on the ground. Ruby unzips her dark red bag and pulls out two water canteens. Yang takes one of them while Ruby opens up hers.

"So you think we will find anything or no?" Ruby asks, talking sips of water.

Yang shrugs. "Maybe. I would think we'd find at least something. Hopefully not anything that will want to kill us. Even if most myths want nothing to do with us, with everything that has gone on you never know."

"Well we don't know if more myths are acting up and attacking humans more than usually. People could just be making that up."

"This is true. I doubt a lot of those stories others have told are true. Half the time when they say they got attacked by some big old myth they have not a single starch on them or anything to prove that they killed one. Hand me an apple will ya?"

Ruby reaches into her bag, pulls out a golden colored apple and hands it too her older sister. Yang smiles as she stars to chomp down on the juicy fruit. Ruby reaches back into the bag to grab her own red apple to eat as well.

After finishing her apple Yang throws her core into some bushes before standing up to look around the area she and Ruby are in. There is not much of a pathway to walk on, since Ruby and Yang did veer off the trail they first were on. Tree branches hang low, making mostly Yang duck and bend over half the time as to not get smacked in the face. It also does not help that are a number of thorny bushes and vines that stab the two sisters wherever they go and a number of places are up hill. Though on the plus side at least the tree canopy keeps a lot of the area shaded, keeping Yang and Ruby cool. That is always good.

_Rustle._

Yang stops in her tracks and turns her head around, listening. She does not hear anything other than some birds chirping in the tree branches above her. _I must've just imagined it._ Yang thinks to herself. Turning on her heels Yang heads back down to where her sister is sitting. Before she reaches her sister, out of the corner of her eye she sees something dark move, fast. The blonde snaps her head around only to find nothing near her. _Either there is something stalking me or I am going insane._

Even though being gone for only a few minutes Yang can see that Ruby is already bored. The younger girl is near a stream, poking the water with a stick she found. Yang rolls her eyes at the thought of her sister trying so hard to find a myth that she up and decided to go looking in a puddle.

A smile comes across Yang's face. Forgetting all about seeing and hearing things Yang slowly tiptoes her way behind her sister. Looking down on the ground a lot to make sure she does not step on to many leaves or snap a twig to cause sounds, Yang draws closer and closer to her dark haired sister. Once she is close enough to Ruby, who is still trying to find something in the dark waters, the older teen blows air onto her sister's neck. Ruby jumps at the sudden sensation of something on her neck, causing her to slip and fall into the puddle. Yang chuckles as Ruby staggers to her feet, falling once in the process. She notices her sister laughing at her and realizing that her sister caused her fall Ruby throws the stick in her hands at Yang. Her sister moves out of the way before it can hit her.

"What is it with you and getting me wet?" Ruby asks as she steps out of the puddle. She brushes off some mud from her clothes and counts her arrows that rest in the quiver on her back to make sure she did not lose any. All of them are still in there.

"How could I not? Anyway did you find anything?" Yang replies.

"No. Nothing. I was poking at the water more to past time till you came back from looking around. Speaking of which that was fast, or poking at the water really killed time. Did you see something?"

"I am not really sure. I thought that I heard something moving in the bushes and maybe I saw something out of the corner of my eye. But I didn't really see anything. Could've just been my mind playing tricks on me or it can be just some random small animal."

"Hm. Maybe. There are a bunch of other things out here besides myths to worry about. Anyway do you want to start walking again?"

Yang nods. Before they start to walk again both sisters look at what they have in their bags. The two have enough to be out in the woods for a day or two before they would have to return home. There are a number of small fruits and snacks to munch. Even though they have already eaten two apples there still should be enough food to last if they are careful not to over eat. Same goes for the water they have. So long as they don't overexert themselves they'll fine. If need be they could always just use stream water—hopefully it is clean. As for sleeping both Yang and Ruby brought a blanket to rest on so they do not have to sleep right on mud, dirt, leaves, or twigs. Being the end of spring and almost summer, there is no real need to cover up to keep warm. All they have to do is find a safe place to rest at.

Once everything is checked and ready the two sisters put their bags back onto their backs and start to walk again. What barely is a path they walk on starts to grow smaller and smaller, causing the sisters to begin walking single file. Ruby takes the lead while Yang brings up the rear. Both keep an eye out for anything that can cause harm. The only things that keep their eyes on the two are small animals would cannot do any real damage.

Ruby and Yang duck under some low hanging branches and pass through some bush. More bushes have thorns on them, which causes mostly Yang to curse every time she either just jabbed by one or stuck because her clothing got caught. After being able to get out of from under the branches and through the bushes there is a clearing. Yang and Ruby take the opportunity to pull check themselves over for any ticks or plant material that can be embedded in their skin.

_Rustle…Rustle._

Both sisters stop when they hear the noise of a bush moving. Neither move as they wait to hear if the sound will come again. It does. Putting a hand on Ruby to tell her to stay, and placing a finger on her lips, Yang starts to walk towards where the noise is coming from. As she walks to the moving plant Yang picks up a stick that is lying on the ground. It is not big or thick enough to do anything like protect her or injure whatever is in the bush, but at least it will be something to draw out whatever is in there.

Yang starts to jab the stick through the bush. The blonde does not hear anything at first and nothing comes out. _Is there nothing in there?_ Yang thinks. She pulls out the stick and puts her hands into the bush. Yang pulls back some small branches and leaves to looks into the hole she made. _What was making that sou—_

Something darts quickly through the bush. Yang barely has enough time to move away before a black blur jumps out at her. The blonde teen falls on her back as whatever the blur is comes at her. Yang quickly flips to her hands and knees as she looks to see what came after her. Standing in front of her, its black hair standing tall on its back and it baring off its sharp, white teeth is a large black cat. Larger than any cat Yang as ever seen before. The blonde blinks her lilac eyes as she stares at the cat. Is that what has been following me?

"Are you okay Yang?" Ruby asks, coming over to help her sister to her feet. Yang nods as she stands up. "Why is there a cat out in the middle of the woods?"

"I have no idea. But it seems really pissed off. I also think it was the thing I thought I heard and saw before, so it might have been stalking us." Yang informs her sister.

"Huh. We are probably in its territory. No wonder why it is not happy to see us." Ruby squats down and stick out her hand towards the cat. "Come here sweetie. We aren't going to hurt you."

"You know that is not going to work."

"Well it is at least something. It is in the way of where we were walking."

"Then let's just walk around it. It is a cat. I doubt it can do much harm." Yang starts to walk towards the cat, keeping to the side of it. When she gets close to it, the black cat jumps in front of her. It starts to walk towards the blonde, still hissing and growling. Yang can hear a snort come from her sister.

"I don't think it wants you to go that way Yang. Who knows, it might have its family in that area. Best we leave it alone."

Yang sighs as she walk over to her sister, who is now standing up again. "Well then which way do you want to go? You are the one who bumped into myth boy."

"He said his name was 'Jaune'. There is no need to call him 'myth boy'"

"Okay. You were the one to bump into Jaune so it is your call where we go."

Yang looks back at the cat that has gotten in their way. She is surprised to see that the black cat is no longer acting aggressive. The hair on its' back have fallen back and it looks overall shocked for some reasons. Going against better judgment Yang walks back over to the cat, picking it up.

"Why did you stop gro—"

All of a sudden the cat turns its head and bites down hard on Yang's hand. Yang shouts in pain before dropping the cat to the ground. She begins to curse under her breath as puts her side of her hand in her mouth.

"Are you okay Yang?" Ruby asks. Her sister nods as she shows Ruby her wound. It is only bleeding a little. Just patching it up should be good. Ruby lets go of her sister's hand and looks with her sister at the black cat. It staggers to its feet and begins to rubs its head with its paw.

"Goddam I hate being picked up." The black cat says. The second it says that it stops. It looks up with wide amber eyes at the sisters, who stare back as well.

"Did that…Did that cat just talk." Yang looks towards Ruby before turning her gaze back at the cat. "That cat just talk. How?"

"Is…Is it a myth?" Ruby asks her sister.

The cat ears fall flat on its head. It seems to be trying to thinking of something. The cat ends up sighing and surprisingly starts to rub its paws against the temples of its head. "I am going to kill that boy when I get back. Yes! I just talked. And yes! I am a myth."

The cat in front of the sisters starts to change. Quickly in place of a large black cat is a teen about Yang's height and age. She looks like any teenage, that is all but the pair of dark cat ears on her head. The girl narrows her amber eyes at the sister. "What are you two doing here anyway? Most people stay on the path rather and deviate from it. Better yet if they do go away from it they don't go this far into the forest. Unless you two are here to hunt myths, which I doubt it since I am still standing and you guys haven't made a move to attack yet."

"Well…um…Well you did hear just talking about Jaune, right?" Ruby says.

"Yes…I did. He is in a lot of trouble for showing himself being a myth."

"Ah! He never did! I mean, when I saw him he was human. He was walking around in my home town and the two of us bumped into each other. Before he left to go find a friend he well…to me it looked like he was…glowing, shimmering. I still don't really know how to explain it."

"Wait, wait, wait, hold up. Do you just say he was human when you saw him? And he, to you, was glowing?"

Ruby nods. The teenage girl in front of her stares in shock, trying to figure out what she was just told. "I…what?"

"I am just as confused as you are with it." Yang says. "I guess even myths don't know about it."

"Well, no. I have heard of it through some of my books. I just thought it was some sort of old legend."

Yang raises one of her eyebrows. "You are one to talk."

"Funny. But just I know of stories of human seeing myths, just hard to think it is real."

"Well there was that one women right before we were born who could do it." A voice says. Yang and Ruby look around for the voice's owner. Up in the trees is a bird. But instead of being like the small chickadees or sparrows that roam about this bird is much larger and colorful. Instead of being a dull brown color most of its body is a bright red-orange. Underneath on its belly is a shining green color. The bird opens up its wings, showing some pink on its tips of its feathers, and flies onto the girl's shoulder. The black haired girl is unnerved by the bird landing on her. In fact she looks a little annoyed.

"What are you talking about Ren? And where you watching us the whole time?" She asks.

The bird, Ren, runs his beak through his feather, pulling out a few loose ones, before answering. "You don't remember Blake? There was some woman named Summer Rose who tried her best to help out myths since she could see us when we were human. It was good she didn't use her power to hunt us. She died sometime when we are all really young."

"Oh right. I forgot."

"Did you say Summer Rose? That was my mother!" Ruby tells the two myths.

Ren looks at Ruby before blinking his pink eyes a few times. "That would make sense. So you are the person Jaune was telling me about as we came back from your home. So…if the two of you are her daughters then I would hope you two are just like her. Not wanting to harm myths. Am I right?"

Yang and Ruby gulp. With his last sentence Ren sounded very serious. As if the two girls sound wrong something bad can happen. Yang nods before talking. "Yes. We mean no harm to any of you guys. After my sister met Jaune and found out of her…powers, she and I really wanted to help like our mother. Honest! That is why we are out here. To look for Jaune and to see if we can help or something like that."

Ren and the girl, Blake, look at each other. They start to whisper to each other. Ruby and Yang stay where they are, waiting to see what they have to say. Their talk seems to get heated, Ren going as far as spreading out his wings and flapping them at his friend. Blake sticks up her hand to stop the attack before narrowing her eyes at the bird. Sighing and crossing her arms against her chest, she turns her head back at Ruby and Yang.

"Well I guess you two came at the right time. We are in need of some help." Blake says.

"I am sure you two have heard and noticed the increase encounters with your kind and ours." Ren adds on. "We have no idea what is causing more myths to go rogue and attack not only humans, but other myths."

"Yeah. It is odd. Up till now it was only really humans going after myths, not the other way around. Not saying that didn't happen in the past. So you guys have no clue either, huh?" Yang replies.

"What do you want us to do then?" Ruby asks.

"How well can you see myths? Probably not all too great am I right?" Ren inquiries. Ruby nods. "Well an idea we have if you two really want to help, to have you guys help us find not only rouge myths but other myths as well. While some have turned sides, there have been a few that have just disappeared."

"You want us to go looking and checking up on others?"

"Yes. We can explain more when we get to the village."

"You are talking us to where you guys live?"

"Yes. But on a few conditions." Blake tells the sisters. "First and foremost is that you two have to give us your weapons at the moment and anything that we would think you could use against us."

"So you mean our bags." Yang says.

"Yes I mean your bags. It's a safety priority. We'll give them back to you guys later when we either trust you guys enough or when you two have to leave."

"Speaking of that. We are going to take you through a path way that we do not use much. Meaning it is much more difficult to get through. Another precaution to make sure that you can't just find the village again." Ren adds on.

"Fair enough." Ruby takes off her quiver from her back and hands both it and the bow to Blake. Yang digs into her pocket to give her brass knuckles to Blake. When the other girl comes up to her, Yang gives her a look. "Did you really have to bite me that hard?"

"I don't like being picked up. If someone you didn't know just came and randomly picked you up, you would probably doing something along those lines." Blake looks down at the hand she bit Yang on. It is no longer bleeding. "Hm. I would've thought it still be bleeding a bit."

"What can I say, I heal fast. Anyway, let's get to this village of yours."

* * *

**Ruby**

Ren was not kidding when he said that the path to the village is a tough one. There is no longer a pathway to follow. Just dead leaves and twigs are on the ground. Trees are so close together that the canopy above blocks out almost all the sunlight from the sky. Some of the branches are low enough that it not only cause Yang to duck down a lot but Ruby as well. Blake and Ren have no trouble at all as they make their way down the path. They do know it after all. Of course they are going having an easier time making their way through all the thorns, bushes, and branches.

From behind Ruby can hear Yang curses out the plants as they hit or stab her. Ruby snickers at the fact her sister is having so much 'fun' walking. Ruby does not mind it as much. Her smaller size allows for her to squeeze through some areas with some sort of ease. She is also careful to watch where Blake moves and to copy her. Ren is still in his myth form, with Ruby believes is a phoenix. He glides through all the holes he can find with ease. Blake stays in her human form so that Ruby and Yang don't get lost. As much as Ruby wants to ask how much further they have to walk, since she is getting both really excited to see the myths and tired from walking around so much, she does not. Ruby rather not get Blake angry or anything. She already seems not happy with brining her and Yang to the village.

After walking through thick foliage for a little while the four enter into a clearing. Ruby and Yang brush themselves off and pulls out any twigs, leaves, or thorns that are in their clothes or hair. Blake stands off to the side waiting for the sisters to clean up. Once they are done cleaning themselves off, Ren flies down and lands near them. Like Blake before is a swift movement the bird changes and takes shape of a teenage boy. Blake walks up next to him, still looking far from happy.

"You two okay?" He asks. Both girls nod. "Good. We are almost there."

Everyone starts to walk again. Ruby looks all around her at her new surroundings. Many of the trees are tall, their limbs hanging far above the ground. There are spots up high where no or little light can come through, like from where the four just came from, while other areas have light shining down onto the earth. Ruby can hear water from a stream or river nearby, though she cannot find it. Some flowers and other small plants shoot out from the leafy ground, showing off their bright colors. Different sorts of animals sing or scurry about the trees. Everything seems peaceful here.

Then she sees it. It is hard at first but through the some tall, thick trees Ruby can see what looks like a building. Her suspicions are only confirmed when she sees people walking and hears chatting. Once past the trees, Ruby's eyes widen at the sight of the village. The reason Ruby had a hard time trying to figure out if she saw buildings or not was because they are all partly built into the landscape. Some are imbedded between trees or under some rocks. Many have either moss or vines on them to further make them invisible. Some areas that have enough light coming down or even a small patch of water have different types of plants growing. Some for decoration and some for food. Flat rocks dot the pathway throughout the area. People walk all over the path, some in their human form and some in their myth forms. It is not as crowed as the streets in Vale. Not as many people must live here. Ruby is so lost in look at the village she does not see that Blake, Ren, and Yang have stopped. She bumps into her older sister.

"Careful." Yang tells her. "This place is amazing. Everything seems like it was literally built up from the ground."

"That is because it is. I am sure you didn't see the village right away." Blake says. "The point behind having everything built into the environment it to make it blend in more. You can probably guess by now why we would think of doing that. So this is some of our village. Where is that wolf boy?"

"He is probably taking a nap on his rock. You know when he has no job half the time he is just on that rock. We should stop sending him on late scouting missions." Ren answers. "You want me to bring them to him? I know you are busy with things so I can take this load off of you."

"I would like that, thank you. Though slap him upside the head for me will you? You know where I'll be if you need me." Blake walks off away from the group. Once gone Ren starts to walk down the stone pathway, Ruby and Yang following close behind.

"What were you talking about Jaune doing 'scouting missions' and Blake being busy?" Ruby asks curiously.

"Many people have a role that they play to keep the village safe. Blake and I are more or less the 'leaders' of the village."

"Leaders?"

"We make sure everything is in order and in check. There are other villages out there and once in a while all the other 'leaders' come to get together to make sure everything is running smoothly. There are many more myths out there that are quite strong and rare. They are the ones that we have to listen to…when they actually tell us stuff. Anyway. As for Jaune he does scouting to make sure everyone that does not live in any of the village is okay. He has been doing some more work as of late because of what is going on."

"Can't others help him?"

"There are others that scout and try to help, they just have their own duties to care for. I think I see him."

Ruby follow's Ren's gaze towards a rock that sticks out over a building. Laying where most of the sunlight is, is a yellow colored wolf. The wolf is on its stomach, part of its body slightly hangs off of the rock. The wolf's eyes are shut closes as it sleeps. Ruby also sees an orange haired, small girl standing under the rock and looking at the wolf. She looks deep in thought as she stares at the wolf.

"You planning of spooking him awake Nora?" Ren says.

The girl turns around to face Ren. Her light blue eyes light up when she sees Ren. "Yep. You going to try to stop me?"

"No. Blake wants me to slap him upside the head. Spooking should work well enough. Remember how Jaune said he literally bumped into a human teenage when he and I were in Vale to get some stuff?"

Nora nods. She then notices Ruby and Yang standing right behind her friend. The sisters smile and wave at the Nora. They watch as Nora's turquoise blue eyes light up.

"That is really sweet. Humans? I mean I have talked to a few humans, of course, but this is awesome having you two here!" Nora shouts.

"Nice to meet you too. So you also are a myth?" Ruby says.

"Sort of. Just like Jauney-boy up above, I am only half-myth or a Crypitd. One of my parents was a human while the other was a myth, hence why I am one of the few people here with a lot of interactions with humans—even if I was raised here. Hold on one sec, okay?"

Nora turns on her heels and walks up to the building. For her size she has no trouble at all jumping up onto the roof. Once she has climbed to the top of the roof Nora hops up on the rock. As she slowly walks towards the still sleeping Jaune, she takes the shape of a white horse with a light pink mane. Once she gets close to the wolf, Nora snorts air through her nose, making a loud noise. Jaune snaps awake and falls off the rock, landing in some mud that is next to the building. Nora returns to her human form and laughs. Ruby also snorts at the sight of Jaune falling into the mud.

"Did you really have to do that?" Jaune asks. The wolf steps out of the mud and shakes himself dry. "What's the big deal any—Oh…" Jaune turns human when he sees Ruby.

"Heya. How are you?" The younger girl asks.

"Fine. You?"

"Good."

"How…Why are you here? Not saying that I don't mind. I did mean it when I said I'd hang out next time I came to your village. But not the other way around…You…didn't see me turn into a wolf did you?"

"You can kind of say that." Ruby starts to explain to Jaune and Nora, who is still sitting up on the rock, about what happened after the two of them collided and why not only she but Yang as well has come looking for myths to help out. Both myths listen to what Ruby has to say.

"Hm. I see. Does Blake still want to kill me?" Jaune asks Ren.

"No. She did want me to slap you but Nora took care of that." Ren replies.

"So, now that we found Jaune, now what? You did say you wanted our help." Ruby says.

"Yes we did. I guess we can go ask Blake what you two should do."

"What about if they help me look around? I was going to leave soon and it be nice to have some help and show them around more."

"You can come and ask with us. You want to come Nora?"

"Nah, I'll stay here. Have fun you guys."

With that the new group of four begin to walk once more. Ruby goes back to looking all around her as she starts to walk deeper and deeper into the village. Her silver eyes light up when she sees different all the different myths. She does her best trying to name each myth she sees. _A Griffin…some more wolves…a few trolls maybe?_ As Ruby looks around she notices some myths in humans form having animal like features on them, much like Blake with her black cat ears. Some don't, like Ren, Jaune, and Nora. Ruby turns to Jaune to ask him.

"What's up with some having animal features and some not?"

Jaune shrugs. "That is just how it is. Some in their myth forms keep some sort of trait and some don't. There are even some that can't turn human and stay only in their myth form. There is a lot to it really. I or someone else can tell you all about it."

"I'd really like that." Ruby smiles.

"How big is this place anyway?" Yang asks.

"Hm…Smaller than Vale of course but pretty big I guess? And that is just going for the village itself. There are many more myths living just outside or around the area that are considered a part of the village."

"And you and others make sure that they are safe and not going rouge right?" Ruby adds on.

"That is right. I have to go soon to check up on a few myths that are out near a small lake. Hopefully Blake will let you guys come. I would think so. She has become overworked with everything going on, so you guys coming would be loads of help."

"So she is normally not as grouchy as she is?" Yang asks.

"Not really. She is not really open to newcomer, especially humans. You can't blame her. It takes time but once she warms up she is not as much of a grump as you think she is. Just don't pick her up when she is in her cat form."

"I know." Yang rubs her hand where Blake bit her not long ago. Ruby snickers which earns a glare from Yang. Jaune also snickers slightly.

Ren and Jaune lead Ruby and Yang up to a wooden house covered in vines. Ren pushes open the door. It creaks as he does so. Inside there are many books scattered surprisingly neatly on the floor as well as a table. A set of stairs are off to side which most likely leads to a bedroom. Where the group goes is towards a door. It is cracked open. Even so Ren knocks and says his name before entering. Jaune, Ruby, and Yang follow right behind him.

In a bright light room Blake is sitting up on a ladder that rest on a bookshelf. The myth is biting her thumb as she flips through a book that is on her lap. Ruby looks around to see there are some more books in the room, though most are on a shelf rather than on the floor or on the desk that is in the middle of the room. Ruby turns to her sister.

"And I thought you were bad with collecting books."

"Hey, you know I mostly did that for you, so you are the one to talk." Yang says back.

"A lot of these books are on the history of many of the myths that live here. They are very much needed. And wait a minute, are you saying that you stocked up a lot on books?" Blake asks, not looking up from what she is reading.

"Sort. You can call it hording. When we were younger she use to collect and keep a lot of books under her bed and other places." Ruby tells Blake. Yang slaps her sister upside the head. Ruby rubs her head. "Though a lot of those books where read to me when I couldn't sleep."

Blake looks up and raises an eyebrow at the sisters. She quickly shakes off whatever is on her mind and shuts her book closed, marking her page as she does so. The myth turns around to but the item in her hands back in its home. Once away she slides down the ladder and walks over to her desk, near where Ren is standing. "You need something?"

"Well as you can see we found Jaune. He wants to know if Yang and Ruby can come along with him to scout. What do you think? He can keep a watch over them, show them around more, and even help out. If they do go then they are going to need their weapons back. Think it is a good idea?"

Blake thinks it over, drumming her fingers on her table. "If we let you go." She starts, looking right at the sisters. "You two have to listen to Jaune and what he says. No going off to do your own thing. And of course the second you guys get back to give back your weapons."

"Still don't trust us, huh?" Yang says.

"No, not yet. If you guys listen I'll start trusting you but for now just do that. Listen? I don't need more issues than there already is. Right Ren?"

"Right. Is their stuff in storage?" Ren asks.

"Yes they are. So Jaune take them there and go out scouting for the day."

Ruby eyes light up and she starts to bounce up and down. Yang places a hand on her sister's shoulder to keep her from jumping up to high. Even with her sister's hand on her shoulder, Ruby is able to get a little of the air. Jaune rolls his eyes at the sight of the sisters. He leads them out of the room. Ruby is able to get out of her sister's hand and hops out of the room to follow him—with Yang right behind.

* * *

**Thank you to kc5ring on tumblr for Yang's weapon idea (though I did slightly alter it) and a-doodle-production on tumblr for helping me to figure out what Ren's color scheme.**


End file.
